The Corps

SOURUMEITO

The Corps Dance Crew was founded in 2013 by it's current directors Kayla Mallari and Sonali Samarasena. After choreographing and directing for several dance teams, (such as Common Ground, The Prototypes, and Reality Check), the two set out to create a crew of their own.

The Corps is comprised of dancers from all over southern California who are trained in numerous genres of dance including jazz, ballet, tap and all foundations of hip-hop such as waacking and popping. They made their debut and performed their first competitive set at the hip-hop competition Maxt Out XIII in November 2013. That set placed 2nd in the Major Chor division and received special recognition awards from the judges. The Corps placed 2nd again in 2014 with a Bollywood set that paid tribute to the cultural heritage of one of its founders. In 2015 their Burlesque set took home 1st place in Major Chor as well as 3rd place overall and a special judges award for Best Costume.

In April of 2014 they presented their ‘Attack on Titan’ set at Ultimate Brawl XIV, and then performed an extended version at Anime Expo 2014 in Los Angeles, California. The set was a pivotal moment for The Corps, highlighting their team name and achieving what the directors had always envisioned: coupling cosplay and theatre into their sets and bringing anime and comics to life through dance. The Corps has gone on to perform annually at Anime Expo, which has been the debut platform for such sets as "Beyond the Northern Wall", an adventure into the unknown northern region of the fandom universe, and it's continuation "Into the Kingdom". In addition, the company performs regularly at the world famous San Diego Comic Con International and it’s affiliate, WonderCon. The Corps has also performed and held panels and workshops at numerous conventions: Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con, Anime California in Long Beach, Anime Los Angeles in Ontario, and Sabakon in Las Vegas.

With a crew of performers whose credits include Disney, America’s Best Dance Crew, Hip Hop International Champions, Nickelodeon, Cirque du Soleil, various awarded studios across the USA, professional sports spirit associations, and a plethora of awarded hip hop crews, The Corps is a melting pot of talent and quirkiness. The Corps Dance Crew strives to maintain the sheer bliss of dancing, for the love of the art and the nerd in their heart.